The Shallows

Now, we’ve travelled the 1019 miles of Norfolk to Lake Worth ICW a few times since our first run in 2009.  It’s not our first rodeo as the Yanks like to say.  So, we are well versed in its challenging patches – the Georgia marshes, South Carolina’s shape-shifting, shallow inlets, North Carolina’s vast open bays and crab-pot lined channels.  Florida is never an issue.  Usually…  2024’s hurricane season saw much damage through this area and the Corps of Engineers, whose task it is to maintain ICW depths, have been stretched beyond their maintenance limits.  We use Navionics, paper charts and good ol’ Skipper Bob’s guide to anchorages (and nav alerts) along this waterway.  Even so, we still watch our depth gauge like hawks and stick to the magenta line (middle) of the channel.  

One of the 10 bridges encountered on our first day on the ICW.
At most of them, we had to request or wait, for an opening.

The Blue Heron Bridge (a fixed bridge), only a mile into our journey north, is known as a bit of an unspoken challenge, offering less than the prescribed 65feet above the water.  The marker indicated 64ft, we need 63ft to not crunch the mast & various antennas attached to it.  We sallied forth, having never hit before.  This time, the VHF antenna touched, bending well over, thankfully not breaking.  

Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse
Perhaps we should have been paying more attention to it?

Our first day on the ICW went downhill from there.  We hit bottom at Jupiter Inlet finding 4½ ft (our keel is 5½), the Captain’s favourite chair jumped ship in Hobe Sound (but was fortunately recovered and read the riot act), then nearly lost our way in the confusion of markers, shoals, and skinny water in St Lucie Inlet crossing, and found ground at the Jensen Beach designated anchorage, supposedly 7-8ft, finding 3 ½.  Thankfully, our trusty Cap’n used a passing wake to hobby-horse WJ3 back into the ICW.   The up side of the day, was manatee watching whilst we waited for the Indiantown Road Bridge, and spotting dolphins, jumping rays, turtles, and loads of birdlife along the way.  Plus, it was warm.  Spring is in the air – well, at least in Florida!  

A well cared for (possibly historic) home along the waterway. 
Note the widow's walk fenced in on the roof top. 
Here, a Captain's wife would watch out to sea for his ship to come home. 

Fort Piece then, was our last chance for an anchorage before nightfall.  We chose to shelter in the protection of Causeway Island and nervously negotiated our way off the ICW.  Needless to say, we misread the channel's green and red markers before finding deeper waters. (Red, right, returning - only we weren't at the time -oops!)  WJ3's anchor was set just on dusk – at an early 6pm.  We had travelled over 50nm in 10 hours, negotiated 10 bridges and some seriously shoaled rivers & inlets.  Florida is supposed to be the easy part of the ICW – just what was in store for us over the next 3-4 weeks before Norfolk and Chesapeake?  Vero Beach was only 16nm away.  We couldn’t wait to get there!